It's Not That Bad
by Kireina1
Summary: One Shot; During OotP; When Remus Lupin visits Arthur Weasley, he walks away to speak with a freshly bitten werewolf...


**Disclaimer:** JK Rowling owns my soul and all character that you may recognize.

**Author's Note:** This fic is taking place during OotP, and influenced by the line in bold.

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_Mrs. Weasley let out an ominous noise somewhere between a shriek and a snarl. **Lupin strolled away from the bed and over to the werewolf, who had no visitors and was looking rather wistfully at the crowd around Mr. Weasley**; Bill muttered something about getting himself a cup of tea and Fred and George leapt up to accompany him, grinning._

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"Good day," said Remus Lupin as he approached the man lying in the bed.  The man looked up with a smile, nodding his head in reply.

"Why aren't you over there with your friend?" the man asked nervously.

Remus looked back over at Arthur Weasley.  "He has enough visitors; I'm sure I'd just crowd him.  My friend tells me that you were bitten.  How are you doing?"

"Have you come to mock me?" he asked with an angered tone.  "Because if you are, I don't care to hear it-"

"No!" cried Remus.  "I-I know what you must be going through."

The two men stared into each other's eyes for a long moment.  Remus noticed the other man's blue eyes full of fear and confusion.  Bandages had been placed on his body, but the more experienced werewolf recognized that they were covering the fresh cuts.

"I don't know how I'm going to be able to tell my family," said the man as he pulled his hands to cover his face.  "I'm a pureblood, you know…"

"Half-blood myself," Remus smiled hopefully.  "My name is Remus Lupin."

The man sat in silence for a moment, and then pulled his hands away to look at Remus.  "Nick Lang."  He held his hand out to shake Remus's.  "I can't believe this is happening to me."

"It's a lot to take in," replied Remus.  "Has anyone sat down with you yet?"  Nick shook his head no.  "Probably all the anti-werewolf legislation that the Ministry has been pulling through.  Back when I was bitten, an older werewolf had been called in almost immediately to sit down and talk to us about adjustments and whatnot."

"When were you…?"

Remus through for a moment; it had been years since he had counted the years.  "Thirty years this spring," he finally answered. 

Nick's eyes widened in astonishment.  "And you've been living like this since?"

"Yes," he answered.  "It's not that bad, I guess.  Improvements have been made"-

"But that still doesn't stop my boss from firing me as soon as he's told by the Ministry."

Remus nodded.  "Yes," he agreed.  "It may be difficult at first, and I'm sure you'll go through Hell and back learning who your real friends are, but not all wizards are heartless."

"I wonder how my wife and children will take the news?" wondered Nick aloud.

"With difficulty, I'm sure," sighed Remus.

"She's a pureblood, too," continued Nick.  His voice was heavy, as if he was holding back tears.  "I love her so much, but I just know that I'll be shunned like no other.  How do you do it?"

Remus smiled a bit.  "It's hard, I guess, to be an outcast."  He paused for a moment to overhear Mrs. Weasley shooing Harry and the younger Weasley's out of the room.  "But sometimes there are advantages to it."

"To living like a monster?"

"We're not monsters, really," replied Remus.  His mother had said the same thing to him before he had started his first year at Hogwarts.  "We're creatures that were created to live and to prosper.  If we were not supposed to be on this Earth, then whatever created all things natural would not have included us.  Being a werewolf is a wonderful thing, really, and I'm sure one day you will come to realize it."

Nick gazed at Remus; the two werewolves did not speak for a long time.  Remus had experienced this mutual understanding only once in his life and remembered it with little difficulty.  Meeting another person just like him was a wonderful feeling, and Remus knew that Nick would remember him for the rest of his life.

"You said that improvements have been made.  What kind?" asked Nick.

"The Wolfsbane potion," answered Remus.  "It allows us to keep our human minds during the full moon.  Are you any good at making potions?"  Nick nodded.  "Personally, I'm terrible at them, and have to have someone else do it for me.  I can get you the list of ingredients and procedures if you'd like."

"That would be wonderful," said Nick, who was now grinning.

"Remus," said Molly Weasley as she walked over towards the two men.  She placed a hand on Remus's shoulder.  "We are about ready to leave."

Remus nodded.  "Alright; I'll be there in a moment."  Molly retreated, and the man looked back at Nick.  "It was a pleasure to meet you."

"Could we stay in touch?" asked Nick hopefully.

"Of course!" beamed Remus.  Quickly, he looked to the small white nightstand next to Nick and grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill.  Remus scribbled down his home address and his name, then handed it to Nick.  "You may write to me at this address, and if you use the London post office, they'll forward it to me where I'm currently staying."

Nick nodded; he was still smiling.  "Thank you, Mr. Lupin"-

"Remus."

"Thank you, Remus," laughed Nick.  "Your kindness is greatly appreciated.  I hope to build quite a friendship with you."

"And I, you," smiled Remus.  The two shook hands once more before Remus walked away with his friends and out of St. Mungo's.

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A week later, Remus had received a letter from Nick.  He had said that he was doing fine and that his wife and children had not minded the adjustments that they would have to make to their lifestyle.  Remus had just tied the envelope containing a letter to Nick, the steps for the Wolfsbane potion, and sent it via owl as another owl swooped in through the window at 12 Grimmauld Place.

This new owl dropped down a small, yet thick, magazine down in front of the werewolf.  Remus picked it up and realized it was his weekly werewolf magazine: _The Den_.  He reached into his pocket and pulled out a few coins and paid the owl before opening the cover and flipping through the pages until one headline caught his eye: _Ministry Werewolf Murdered by Wife_.  Quickly, Remus read through the first paragraph, and then the second followed by the third.

_Nicholas Lang, age 37, was murdered Sunday evening by his wife, Matilda, by the _Avada Kedavra_ curse__ Sunday evening.  Lang, who survived a werewolf attack this last full moon, was the secretary to Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge._

_Matilda Lang has been taken into custody saying that she did it to protect her two children, Tom and Mary, from the threat of being bitten.  "It was for the good of my children," she protested when Aurors took her away.  "I loved him, but couldn't allow him to harm my children."_

_Werewolf representative lawyers have been called in and are prosecuting, hoping to get Matilda Lang at least twenty years in Azkaban for the murder of her husband, but they are iffy.  "Werewolf discrimination is the most tolerated form of prejudice in the country," says prosecutor John Connolly.  "With new laws passed, [Matilda] Lang may just get off with a warning."_

The article went on to describe more, but Remus threw down the magazine and felt the tears well up behind his eyes.  "Happy fucking New Year," Remus mumbled as he stood up and climbed the stairs to the room that he had been sleeping in at Grimmauld Place, threw himself of his bed, and began to cry.

-Fin

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**Author's Note:** I know: Remus probably would not have started crying over the death of someone he did not even really know.  It is more of the fact that everyone around him is dying, and with the prejudice against werewolves, he is beginning to become frustrated.  Not very good, but yeah.  Maybe I'll rewrite this; I really liked the concept behind the fic.


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